The first person to patent the radio wasn’t the last.
Nikola Tesla’s patent for radio technology was granted in 1900. Around the same time, Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi developed a more powerful radio technology, and filed for a patent. Though repeatedly rejected by the Patent Office, Marconi persisted, and in 1904 was awarded a patent for his radio. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909.
Obtaining a patent isn’t always easy, but diligence can pay off.